Saying No
by museumheist
Summary: One bird is wondering if the other can say no. Neither are entirely sure as to what he should be saying 'no' to. A moment between Robin and Raven - only romance if you see it that way - oneshot ficlet.


It was obvious he wasn't keen on the idea of returning to Gotham.

After all, he had hardly left the Dark Knight on good terms, if what he told her was any indication. But very few people could say 'no' to Batman.

Raven had always assumed Robin was one of them.

But then, the Boy Wonder must have learned his persuasion (or intimidation, depending on your perspective) from someone. Batman must have said a lot to make Robin go back.

Raven still wasn't entirely sure _why_ Robin had left Gotham for Jump. Just that there had been a disagreement, and that she felt selfish for being glad it had happened. She would have been lost long ago without the team, the family Robin gave her. She would have been lost without him, really.

But now Robin's old mentor was calling him back. And Raven felt something stirring in her: apprehension, with a touch of anger. What if they made up and Batman tried to convince Robin to return to Gotham permanently? What if he succeeded? What was she supposed to do about it? Those thoughts and ones like it rolled in her head, always in the back of her mind throughout the week, leading up to Saturday: the day Robin was to leave Titans Tower for a few days. Just for a visit - to "catch up" as Batman had put it (Raven couldn't help overhearing, really).

And, of course, there was no prolonging the inevitable: Saturday came after Friday, the way it always did. Raven wasn't sure if she should see the Boy Wonder off or not, but when Cyborg knocked on her door the day of his departure asking if she was coming, she found herself glad to have an excuse.

They were all down in the garage saying their goodbyes, and Raven couldn't help but get the sense of… finality in those parting words.

Robin couldn't leave them. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to make sure of such a thing; Robin was his own person, and if he wanted to rejoin Batman he would, regardless of what she said. (But then, if it even _looked_ like Robin was unhappy with that particular outcome, she couldn't think of anything that would keep her from trying to convince him back.)

So she lingered as the others left, waiting to speak until she was sure she was alone.

"I'm not sure what exactly he's going to say, or if you have any idea," she started quietly, "but just know you can always tell him 'no.'"

He looked at her curiously for a moment before smiling softly. "I know," he responded. "Even if I have to make him realize that…"

"Just promise me you'll come back," the words had slipped out before she could stop them. She cringed for an instant – she wasn't supposed to make demands like that.

To her surprise, he continued smiling. "If you're so nervous," he said in that cocky way he had, "why don't you come with me?"

Before she had registered what he was asking, he was extending a helmet to her.

After a silent moment – one where Robin's smile never wavered, and Raven looked at the headgear in surprise – she took it.

After all, who was she to say no to a request like that?

* * *

So... I wrote this in like, twenty minutes. No kidding. I wanted to crank it out before I lost my inspiration for it. And you can blame Evanescence's "Good Enough" for this - the 'I can't say no to you,' line, specifically. It was going to be more romance-oriented, but this came out instead. It does have Rob/Rae, but it can be interpreted as friendship if one so chooses (at least, I think it could). Anyways. Hopefully it wasn't horrible. I enjoyed writing it, at any rate. Might or might not come back to this and expand it - more inner monologue and detailing of the others, but I got done what I wanted to. It may be a little disjointed, but that seems to be how it wanted to be.

I think I'm on a roll - two one-shots written in a day (you may or may not see the other one tomorrow... depends on how much time I have to edit and such).


End file.
